1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tracking and recovery system and more particularly to a gemstone identification, tracking and recovery system including a database for storing the characteristics of a gemstone, a unique identification number and personal information of the owner of the gemstone to enable a user to cross-reference this information, and identify and track the ownership of the gemstone or provide information about the gemstone to aid with the recovery of the gemstone should it become stolen or lost.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the case of precious gemstones such as diamonds, there exists a need for a simple, reliable method by which the identity of a gemstone can be determined to enable the gemstone to be recovered if lost or stolen. The most common problem with recovering a gemstone is accurately identifying the gemstone. Even if the gemstone is known to be stolen or lost, the finder of the gemstone must be able to accurately identify its owner. This problem is of particular concern to insurance companies, in that gemstones are often insured and it has been difficult to identify the stolen gemstone even if it is recovered. Insurance companies in the past have also been subject to fraudulent claims. Furthermore, police often request jewelers to identify gemstones to help the police resolve cases and typically the jeweler can be of no assistance because there is no easy way to accurately identify the gemstone.
A system that assists with the identification, tracking and recovery of the gemstone is would significantly reduce the trade of stolen gemstones and therefore, would be of great interest to insurance companies, police departments, jewelers and purchasers which all have an interest in recovering stolen or lost gemstones. Such a system would also greatly increase consumer confidence in the trade of gemstones. Despite various methods of identifying and tracking gemstones, the recovery of gemstones still remains a problem.
A number of methods of identifying a gemstone are currently available. One such method, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,935 to Wallner et al., includes a system for providing an optical fingerprint of a gemstone whereby a laser beam is focused onto a gemstone and its optical response is recorded onto a recording medium, preferably a photographic medium. This system provides a unique fingerprint of the gemstone which is reproducible and provides sufficient proof to identify a gemstone. However, the device that generates the optical fingerprint is very complex and expensive to manufacture. For this system to be effective, it would require an optical device to be placed at every location that need to identify a gemstone, such as police stations and jewelry stores. Even if a jeweler had this optical device, it would be the jeweler's responsibility to record all optical fingerprints before the gemstones left the store in order for the system to be effective. This system is not, however, practical considering the cost of each device and extra personnel, time and training needed to operate the optical devices. In the alternative the gemstone may be delivered to a facility for optical scanning. Even after generating an optical fingerprint, an expert is still required to analyze the optical fingerprint with others on file to identify the owner of the gemstone. Either way this method is not conducive to easily identifying and matching a missing gemstone to its owner.
Another method of identifying gemstones is the use of X-ray topography to generate a unique fingerprint of the gemstone. This method is also very complex and expensive to manufacture, and requires an expert to evaluate and compare the fingerprint to other recorded fingerprints to verify the identity of the gemstone.
Another method of identifying a gemstone is the etching of a number or other indicia onto a surface of the gemstone using a laser. The number is inscribed small enough so as to not detract from the quality or brilliance of the gemstone, but can be easily "read" with a common magnifying tool used by jewelers, police, gemstone purchasers and insurance companies.
Once the gemstone can be uniquely identifiable, a holder of a lost or stolen gem requires a method of determining the owner of the identified gemstone. U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,935 to Wallner et al. shows a gemstone identifying and tracking system that stores optical fingerprints of stolen gemstones in a central database. Gemstones that are reported to the central database as being stolen or lost are then compared electronically using software to match the fingerprint of the stolen or lost gemstone to its records of fingerprints of gemstones reported as stolen or lost. The software then narrows the possible matches of the stolen gemstone to a small number of fingerprints. An expert then analyzes the results and provides an opinion of which fingerprint is an identical match. The need of an expert to positively identify the gemstone as stolen or lost and the need for an optical device at each jeweler store and police station renders this system impractical for wide spread use.